Off to Placerville
by Vol lady
Summary: A "Nick" interlude. Sheriff Madden cons Nick into delivering a troublesome prisoner to Placerville, and Nick discovers more than he planned to along the way. And don't ask me what Nick did on January 1, because he didn't tell me either.
1. Chapter 1

Off to Placerville

Chapter 1

February 1880

Nick pulled the wagon to a halt outside Jennie Hall's home, climbed off, and hurried around the other side to help Audra down. Jennie was going to make Audra's wedding dress, and Audra was here for measurements and to pick out the type of dress and fabric she wanted.

Victoria had wanted to come, but Audra was adamant that she didn't want ANYONE to see the dress or anything about it until her wedding day. Victoria bowed to the bride's wishes, and since Nick was going into town for supplies, he agreed to take Audra to Jennie's and to leave her alone until she was finished there.

They went to the door and knocked, and soon the small red-haired woman opened the door to them.

"Hello, Audra! Hello, Nick!" Jennie said cheerfully and let them in.

Nick took his hat off. "How are you, Jennie?"

"Very well, thank you," Jennie said. She and Nick had dated briefly a little over a year earlier. Nick had started a rumor that Jennie was a former member of an outlaw gang, thinking that no one would believe it. She was, after all, small, proper and reserved. But it turned out, she could handle a gun and take care of herself, and Nick was charmed despite the fact that she was fairly plain and very small a companion for his 6' 3" frame.

They stopped seeing each other after it seemed clear they were not meant to be, but they remained friends, and Nick had to admit to himself that she was still one heck of a woman. Just not the woman for him.

"You need to leave, Nick," Audra said bluntly.

Nick looked a bit startled, but said, "Oh, okay, nice to see you Jennie!"

Jennie laughed as Nick went right back out the door. "Nice to see you too, Nick."

Nick climbed back into the wagon and drove on to the mercantile, where he pulled up and hitched the team to the hitching rail. He went on inside, pulling his list out of his pocket. He had all kinds of supplies he needed for the house as well as for the ranch work. It was quiet inside the shop today, and the owner, an older man named Frank Gill, greeted him right away.

"Hi, there, Nick, good to see you."

"Frank, how are you?" Nick asked.

"Pretty well. Yourself?"

"Couldn't be better. Got a list of things we need out at the ranch." He gave Frank the list.

Gill looked it over. "Doesn't look to complicated. I'll get it ready and get your rig loaded. You gonna be at the saloon?"

Lately it had become Nick's habit to visit the saloon while Gill got things together. Nick nodded. "Half an hour or so. See you later."

Nick went out and across the street. It being early afternoon, only a few men were in the saloon, but his favorite hostess was there. A dark-haired beauty maybe 24 years old named Caroline. She was at the bar, talking to an older man who did odd jobs around town to pay his rent. As soon as Nick came to the bar, Caroline switched her attentions.

"Nick!" she cried, came over to him and put an arm around him.

Nick reciprocated. "How's it going, Caroline?"

"Slow," she said. "How are you these days? What brings you to town?"

"Oh, fetching supplies and delivering my sister to Jennie Hall's so they can work on her wedding dress." He gave a hand signal to Harry, the bartender, who drew him up a beer.

Caroline sighed. "I love weddings. Wish I could have one." She laughed after she said that. She had no prospects on the horizon, and after being with some of the men she saw around here, she didn't want any. But Nick was different. "Tell me, why hasn't some lovely girl snapped you up by now?"

"You know, I was wondering that myself the other day. Jarrod's seeing somebody in San Francisco. He has women falling over him all the time, but he doesn't fall very often himself. Me, it's the other way around. I fall for a beautiful woman, and she turns out not to give a hoot about me, or she has some nasty ex-boyfriend messing things up, or somebody else comes along and steals her away. I just can't seem to catch a break."

"Well, now, I know quite a few girls around here who would love to spend more time with you," Caroline said and snuggled closer to him.

Nick liked his saloon girls just fine, but he'd never met one – even Caroline – that he wanted to spend time with outside the saloon. But how do you say that out loud to a girl? "Someday, maybe," is all he could think of to say.

Caroline got the message with a sigh and backed off a bit. "So Audra and Carl Wheeler," Caroline changed the subject. "He hasn't even been coming in as often, you know? Loyal as a puppydog already."

"He's a good man. We're all pretty happy he and Audra are getting married."

"Well, we do have to get you married, Nick. You really are the marrying kind, even if you haven't figured out how to do it yet."

Nick chuckled. Overhearing the comment, Harry said, "It's really pretty easy, Nick. You find a nice girl who can cook and sew and doesn't have a roving eye for other men, and you're home free."

"Well, you do have to get her to rove her eye your way," Nick said, "and that's where my problem seems to be."

Harry said, "A couple of the guys from the Martin spread are getting up a good card game for tonight, about nine. You coming on by?"

"Maybe," Nick said. "I'm a little cash poor right now"

Sheriff Madden came in just then and wandered up to the bar. "Hi, Nick, how's it going?"

"Not bad, Fred," Nick said. "Little slow maybe."

"I might be able to fix that," Sheriff Madden said, and Caroline wandered back to the older man she'd been with before Nick came in.

"Oh?"

"Got a problem. I picked up a fella night before last for disturbing the peace – got drunk and started shooting the town up. Turns out he's wanted in Placerville for robbing a general store, shooting the storekeeper."

"Kill him?"

"No, just a minor leg wound. Thing is, I got my deputy laid up for a week after catching pneumonia. I need somebody to take the man back to Placerville."

Nick knew what the sheriff was aiming for. "Placerville?! It's February! Why not get the sheriff up there to send somebody down here? There's bound to be somebody who wants to get away from the snow."

"He's shorthanded, too. I gotta come up with somebody who can leave here with the man I have in jail by tomorrow morning. How about it?"

"Aw, Fred, I'd like to help you but I got a ranch to run."

"There's five days pay in it for you."

Nick laughed. "I'm not that cash poor, Fred."

"What about Heath?"

"I don't know, he's not with me. Out with a couple of the hands tracking down coyote up off the north range. Can't even find him by tomorrow morning."

"Come on, Nick, give me a break."

"Fred, I have a ranch to run, and with Jarrod gone I keep having to run into town for the legal work, and I just don't have the time!"

Sheriff Madden leveled a stare at Nick and said simply, "January 1."

Nick knew right away what he was talking about. "Fred, you're not calling that in."

"I'm out of choices, Nick."

Nick heaved a big sigh, took off his hat, and rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, all right, you win. Let me take my sister home and check in with my mother and McCall, and if everything is settled at the ranch, I'll see you in the morning. If I can't help you, I'll send word. How's that?"

Sheriff Madden slapped Nick on the back. "Thanks, Nick. Do this for me, and we're even."

As the sheriff left, Nick mumbled something about the sheriff owing him for a few things other than what happened on January 1, and he mentally kicked himself for being so accommodating when he really didn't want to be.

"Harry," he said out loud. "Give me another beer, and don't expect me at the poker game tonight."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Audra finally asked her brother after a long ride home in virtual silence.

Nick muttered a few things and finally said, "The sheriff wants me to take a prisoner up to Placerville for him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? How long will be you be gone?"

"Five days or so, and I'm not looking forward to it."

"Then why did you agree to do it?"

Nick couldn't mention January 1, so he just said, "Because I'm a soft touch."

"Who's going to take care of the ranch?"

"Heath and McCall. Heath should be back sometime tomorrow. It'll be all right."

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?"

"No, but the man doesn't sound too dangerous, so I expect it'll be all right."

Audra digested it all for a few minutes before she said, "There'll be a lot of snow up there this time of year."

"I know!" Nick bellowed.

"I was just saying," Audra said, and that was the end of the conversation.

Before long they were home. Nick climbed down out of the wagon as Ciego helped Audra down and then took charge of unhitching the horse. Nick asked him to see that the supplies were unloaded, and then he and Audra went into the house.

Nick took off his gunbelt and hat as soon as he got inside, and for once he did not yell for his mother. Victoria was coming down from upstairs and immediately noted the scowl on Nick's face. His failure to shout convinced her he was in a bad mood.

"It wasn't that bad a day, was it?" Victoria asked.

"Nick is going to Placerville tomorrow," Audra said, removing her coat and carrying it upstairs, past her mother. She didn't really want to hear this conversation.

"Placerville?" Victoria asked. "What in heaven for?"

"Taking a prisoner up for Fred. His deputy is laid up and he ran out of idiots to ask to do the job," Nick said.

"Don't go if you don't want to," Victoria suggested.

Nick wasn't about to tell her about January 1 either. "I owe him a favor. He called it in. Can you spare me?"

"I suppose so, but you'd better check with McCall, too."

"I will as soon as he gets in."

Nick headed for the living room and the refreshment table. In less than a minute he had poured and downed one shot of whiskey and was pouring another.

Victoria followed him into the living room. "Would you pour me a glass of wine, Nick?"

"Red?"

"Please."

Nick did as he was asked and brought the glass to his mother, who had seated herself on the settee. Nick plopped down into one of the armchairs that faced the settee.

Victoria said, "You know, I can tell Fred you're needed around here if you like."

"No, I don't want you to start lying to him for me," Nick said. "It's all right. I'll get five days' pay out of it."

Victoria laughed. "What's that, all of five dollars?"

"Something like that," Nick said. "But I could stand to air my brain out anyway."

"You have been a little moody lately."

"Thinking about – things."

""What things?"

Nick hesitated but finally came out with it. "Audra getting married. Jarrod and Eugene both seeing someone. And here I am, can't get a woman interested in me, and I'm one of the biggest ranchers in northern California. Something must be wrong with me, that's all."

"Oh, Nick, don't go feeling sorry for yourself," Victoria said. "The right woman isn't just going to fall into your lap. You need to really look for the right one, and you keep being attracted to the wrong one. Probably because you just haven't wanted to find the right one."

"Who is the right one? Really, Mother. If I'm always attracted to the wrong one, how am I supposed to know who the right one is? And don't tell me I'll know her when she comes along. I'm almost 33 years old. I'm running out of time to wait for that."

In the back of his mind, Nick thought about his older brother, finding happiness again, yes, but battling heart disease that was slowly cutting his life short. What if this heart disease was hereditary? What if it was waiting for him, too, and he came to face what Jarrod was facing before he ever found that right woman?

"Well, you might try looking at a woman for something other than her physical beauty," Victoria suggested.

"What's wrong with a beautiful woman?"

"Nothing at all, except that they're not falling for you. They're not the right one. You were pretty happy when you were seeing Jennie Hall. What ended that?"

"I don't know. She just decided she wasn't what I was looking for."

"What did you think?"

"I guess I thought the same thing. I wasn't all that upset when she stopped seeing me."

Victoria heaved a sigh. "Well, Nick, perhaps this little trip to Placerville will give you the chance to settle your mind a bit. You have to find that place between thinking too little about it and thinking too much."

"Gonna be a lot of snow in Placerville," Nick said thoughtfully.

"Well, if you're not back in five days, I won't worry right away."

"Could be five weeks."

Victoria's eyes flew open. "I suppose you're right."

Nick got up. "But it won't be. Don't worry. The sheriff has been in touch with the sheriff in Placerville by wire, so the lines are still up, which means not too much snow. I'll be careful and I'll try to get it all over with fast." He approached his mother and kissed her on the forehead. "And I'll try to settle my mind, too."

Victoria smiled.

XXXXXXX

The sun was just coming up when Nick rode into Stockton the next morning, his horse laden with provisions for several days. He wore his winter coat and was ready for the weather he knew lay ahead. The sheriff's office was open, lights lit, and Nick hitched his horse and went in.

Fred Madden was there, reading wanted posters, but he popped up as soon as Nick came in the door. "Nick, great, thanks for doing this for me."

"Yeah," Nick grumbled. "You got this guy ready? I'd like to get there so I can get back."

Sheriff Madden was already halfway to the cell block door, and when he opened it, the voice of his prisoner inside was the first thing to come out.

"I want to have my breakfast before we leave, you know! A man's entitled to leave on a full stomach! Yeah, I know I can eat some hardtack and jerky on the ride, but that's no breakfast!"

And he didn't stop. He kept blabbering away the whole time the sheriff got him into his winter coat and into handcuffs and brought him out into the office.

"And what about coffee? Ain't a man entitled to a cup of coffee around here?"

Sheriff Madden handed him a cup of coffee he had sitting on the stove, if only to shut him up for a moment. While the man drank it, the sheriff said to Nick, "This is Jed Marks, and you're welcome to him."

"Does he always talk that much?" Nick asked.

"I talk as much as I think I need to," Marks said before he gulped down the last of the coffee. "And I don't understand why you're taking me to Placerville in the first place. I didn't do nothing up there. I didn't rob no store or shoot no storekeeper. I told you, I was on my way down here when all that happened. I ain't been in Placerville for weeks – "

"Will you shut up?!" Sheriff Madden yelled over him. "Will you shut up and listen for a minute?"

Marks fell quiet.

"This is Nick Barkley," Sheriff Madden said as he pinned a deputy's badge onto Nick's coat. "He's gonna take you to Placerville, and if you try to get away he's entitled to shoot you. You got that?"

"Sure I got that," Marks said, "and he's entitled to shoot me if he just wants to, I'll bet."

"I'm just about to want to," Nick growled. Then he glared at Sheriff Madden with a look that said _you have pulled a dirty one on me and I will not forget it._ "Is that horse on the rail the one for old Jed here?"

"Sure that's my horse," Marks started up again. "I rode him down here and I'm keeping him. He's a dammed fine animal I bought over in Nevada. He's carried me through snow and hail and hot desert and…."

Marks just kept talking. Nick just kept glaring at Sheriff Madden. And Nick and Marks both went out the front door like that.

XXXXX

Nick had a headache within half an hour. He had the lead from Marks horse tied to the horn of his own horse, so he knew the man would not be riding away, but dear God, he was sorely tempted to let that lead slip off and ride off somewhere, anywhere, without the man. Marks just would not keep quiet. Even when Nick told him to, it only lasted for a minute or so, and then he was rattling on again about how innocent he was, or how the weather south of here was so much better and that's where he wanted to go, or how his mother taught him so many songs she learned when she was a girl in Ireland. _Oh, God,_ Nick thought. _If he starts to sing, I swear, I'll shoot him._

Nick let the distance between him and Marks increase a bit so he couldn't hear the man as much. It worked a bit. For a while, Nick was able to tune him out, but when it came time to take a break and Nick had to stick close to him, it all started up again.

"I was born and raised a good Christian and I ain't never stole from nobody and I sure ain't never shot anybody. My blessed mother, God rest her soul, she told me over and over ….."

Marks went on and on, even as he and Nick tended to their personal business and even as Nick gave him some jerky and water. Nick thought for a minute that the man would keep talking even while he ate and drank, but Marks paused at least for that.

"You ever been up Lake Tahoe way? Virginia City, now there's a nice place, not too far from the lake, and the lake, she is so pretty. She sparkles in the sun so pretty, and the mountains are so sweet. I wanted to stay there forever, but I couldn't find no work so I moved on over here…"

Nick looked up toward the heavens as he got Marks remounted and got himself up on his own horse. _Dear God, I swear, I will never do anything like I did on January 1, ever again._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The trip to Placerville should have taken about 80 miles or about three days one way, but Nick was sorely tempted to get there via Sacramento so he could put them both onto a train and get there faster. It was late on the first day that he'd have to decide to take one road or the other. He paused at the crossroads and looked in both directions – Sacramento straight ahead, Placerville angling to the right.

"Why are we stopping?" Marks asked. "Take the right to go to Placerville. That's the way I came down to Stockton. It's not a bad road, climbs a bit of course, and we're gonna run into snow. You can see it off to the east there, can't ya? Can't tell how deep it is, but it is February after all…."

"Marks, if you don't shut up, I'm gonna gag you!" Nick finally yelled.

"You can't gag me. You can mistreat a prisoner like that."

"And who's around to call me on it?" Nick said before Marks could start up again.

Marks fell quiet, but only as long as it took Nick to decide and start up the road to Placerville. Yes, it did look like snow ahead, but that would tie up the trains, and the last thing Nick wanted was to be stuck with Marks in Sacramento for days on end.

Marks started up again before they were half a mile up the Placerville road. "I came down here around Christmas time. Wasn't but maybe a foot of snow, which ain't a lot. Horse had no trouble with it. Might be up to two or three feet by now and maybe the road is packed down more than that…"

Nick let the lead to Marks's horse out again so that he could get a little out of earshot. He wanted to make a few more miles before stopping for the night. He just couldn't handle the idea of not making it to Placerville by the next day, even if it was midnight when they got there. He couldn't take much more of Marks.

But then it began to snow. It was light at first, didn't even affect visibility much, but it was laying down fast. Soon the ground was so white that the darkness almost looked like day.

And one other thing was obvious – if they were going to stop for the night, they'd need some shelter someplace. Trouble was, nothing looked promising, not even a decent outcropping of rock. Marks was still babbling on about one thing or another, but the snow began to muffle his voice. They kept on going. Nick kept looking for shelter and not seeing it. Soon the visibility began to get tough.

 _I gotta do something soon or we're gonna be a in world of hurt_ , Nick thought.

Another half mile up the road, Nick saw a light off to the left. He hated the thought of inflicting Marks on any other human being, but he was getting desperate for shelter. Maybe it was a farmer who would at least let them bunk in the barn. Nick took a guess as where the lane to that house would be and headed up in that direction.

"Where you going now?" Marks yelled. "This ain't the road! You're gonna get us lost!"

"I'm gonna get us shelter!" Nick yelled back. "And you'd better keep your mouth shut because if you keep rattling on like that nobody will take us in for the night, so SHUT UP!"

Marks quieted down. He was so quiet that Nick didn't hear a thing out of him, not a peep all the way to the house where the light came from. It was a farm or a ranch. There was a barn. That would do them fine for the night.

Nick hitched his horse to a hitching rail in front of the house and silently hoped that Marks would try to make a break for it while he went up to the door. Marks just sat there, but at least it was in silence. Nick knocked on the door.

A woman opened it. She was awfully young, plain looking but beautiful to Nick on a night like this. He took his hat off. "Pardon me, ma'am. My name is Nick Barkley. I'm a deputy from Stockton and I'm taking a prisoner to Placerville. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind putting us up in your barn for the night. We're pretty desperate for shelter."

The woman looked beyond Nick and saw Marks as just a hunched dark blob on horseback, but she looked at Nick's badge and believed him. "You're welcome to put your horses in the barn and come inside here. The barn gets drafty and doesn't always keep all the snow out."

"Oh, I don't want to trouble you, ma'am."

"It's no trouble. You won't find any other shelter for many miles. Stable your horses, see to whatever other needs you have out here, and bring your prisoner on inside. I have coffee on and I'll get you some food together."

Nick smiled an exhausted smile. "Ma'am, you are an angel."

She smiled. "Just come on in when you're ready. No need to knock."

Nick nodded and went back to the horses. He unhitched his and led it and Marks toward the barn, saying to his prisoner, "We've got a roof for the night. I want you to keep your mouth to yourself, you got me?"

"Sure, right," was all Marks said.

Nick led the animals into the barn, where Marks dismounted. There were two other horses already stabled there, but two stalls were empty. Nick ordered Marks to unsaddle his horse, and Marks did so, even though it was awkward with his hands handcuffed. Then he gave Marks a brush to brush the horse down with, and Nick did the same for his horse. There was hay and even grain in the barn, and Nick made sure the horses were fed. The pump outside would not work, so Nick gathered up every bucket he could find and filled them with snow, which he put within reach of their horses. That was going to have to do for now.

It took a good half hour or so before Nick led Marks into the house. As requested, he did not knock, but he and Marks stamped the snow off their feet and the woman inside knew they were coming. They went into the small house – a kitchen area just off a living and dining area, and a couple bedrooms off to the side. There was a fireplace with a warm fire going, and Marks immediately sat down on the floor in front of it.

"This is more like it," Marks said. "Nice, warm fire on a cold snowy night. Reminds me of when I was growing up in Kansas –"

Nick threw a glare at him, and Marks quieted down.

Nick went to the kitchen are where the woman was heating some food on the stove. It smelled like rabbit stew, and it sure smelled good. "I can't thank you enough for taking us in."

"It's no problem," the woman smiled. "My name is Nancy Tyler, Mr. Barkley. What is your prisoner's name?"

"Jed Marks," Nick said. "I have to warn you – he talks a lot."

"Oh? He seems all right to me."

"I threatened to gag him," Nick admitted.

Nancy Tyler laughed. "Well, I hope you don't have to do that in here. With any luck, you two are so tired that after a full belly you'll just doze off. Sorry I don't have any indoor facilities – the outhouse is out the back when you need it."

"Forgive me," Nick said, looking around, "but are you all by yourself out here?"

"Temporarily," she said. "My father lives with me, but he took very sick and they put him in the hospital in Sacramento. He's better off there for now. Why don't you have a seat at the table there and I'll bring you a plate and some coffee?"

Nick did as he was told, telling Marks to do the same, and in a few moments they had some of that great smelling rabbit stew and a hot cup of coffee in front of them.

"Oh, my goodness, ma'am," Marks said, "this is wonderful. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in from the cold. This is just the first good food I've had all day, and it's just wonderful."

"All right," Nick said. And then to Nancy he said, "He's right. This is marvelous. Thank you very much."

"I have a couple pieces of apple pie left," she said. "Had to use dried apples this time of year, but it still turned out pretty good."

"Oh, ma'am, I would just die and go to heaven with some of that pie in me," Marks said.

Nick threw him a look. He intended to keep doing that every time he thought he had to.

Nancy sat down at the table with them. "Mr. Barkley, are you one of that prominent family down there in Stockton?" she asked.

Nick nodded and swallowed his food. "I run the ranch down there with my brother Heath. My brother Jarrod is the lawyer – you probably heard more about him, he makes the papers so often."

"Yes, I have," Nancy said. "I didn't realize a Barkley would be a deputy, though."

"It's just for transporting Marks here," Nick said. "I'm doing a favor for our sheriff."

"It's a pretty big favor, to come up this way this time of year. I don't think this will be a big snow, but you never can tell this time of year."

"Well, I'm not planning for us to impose more than this one night," Nick said, and he smiled at her.

She was fairly plain looking, but when she smiled back at him it was such a lovely smile that she turned into a beauty right in front of Nick's eyes. In a way, he wished the snow would get high enough to strand them here for a little while.

"This is just so wonderful I might just cry," Marks said. "My momma was a good cook, too, but this rabbit stew is just about the best I ever had. You ought to be – "

"That's enough," Nick said and gave Nancy a sheepish grin. He remembered why he did not want to be stranded anywhere with Jed Marks.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Marks fell asleep on the well-worn sofa not long after he had finished eating, but Nick stayed awake. He helped Nancy clean up the dishes he and Marks had used, and they began talking quietly. Nick did not want to wake Marks up. This was the only peaceful part of this day, and he wanted to savor it, to talk with someone who would actually be quiet now and then.

After they did the dishes, Nick and Nancy sat back down at the table. Nick watched Marks for a moment, saw his lips moving. "It's like watching a little kid," Nick said. "Still moving, still talking even though he's asleep."

"What is his crime? Why are you taking him to Placerville?" Nancy asked.

"He's wanted for robbing a mercantile and shooting the shopkeeper. Didn't kill him – I don't think Marks could kill anybody except maybe talk them to death."

"Do you think he might be innocent?"

"He might be," Nick admitted. "But that's not for me to say. I'm just supposed to deliver him."

"Do you do this often?"

"No, hardly ever. But the Stockton deputy was laid up, and the sheriff called in a favor, so, here I am."

Nancy smiled. "You may have to turn back in the morning. If we get a foot of snow here, you can bet there's two feet before you get to Placerville."

"We'll have to make that call in the morning. Right now, I'm just enjoying – " He nearly said _being with you_ , but he hesitated at the last moment. He was almost embarrassed to say it.

"Enjoying what?" Nancy asked.

Nick sighed. "It's so nice and peaceful here. Marks is not a peaceful fella. He talked my ear off all day. I'll be really happy to deliver him to Placerville, and I hope I can do it tomorrow."

"Then it's back to Stockton?"

Nick nodded. "Got a ranch to run. My brother and the foreman can do it just fine, but I like to tell myself they really can't get along without me."

Nancy laughed again. She had a lovely laugh, like a small stream running fast over rocks.

 _Nick, get a hold of yourself. Yes, she's lovely, but this is one night, and you're not alone. And she lives a day away from you._

 _But maybe she's the type of woman you ought to be looking for. Maybe the loveliness you want is really down deep, not on the surface._

"Do you have a big family?" Nancy asked.

"My mother, three brothers and a sister," Nick said. "We're marrying off my sister to my best friend in June. My youngest brother lives back east – we'll probably be marrying him off any second, too. My older brother is the lawyer in San Francisco. He's a widower but he'll probably be getting remarried before too long himself. My younger brother Heath and I run the ranch."

"No marriage in sight for either of you?" There was a twinkle in her eye when she asked the question.

Nick understood why. "No, I guess we're just too busy running the ranch." He chuckled. "Sorry, I've got marriage on the mind lately. I didn't mean to be that embarrassing."

"It's not embarrassing," Nancy said. "Sounds like your family is undergoing a lot of changes. And here you are escorting a prisoner out in the snow – not exactly what you wanted to be doing right now, is it?"

"Do you always read people's minds so soon after you meet them?" Nick asked with a smile. He didn't intend it to be snarky.

"No," Nancy laughed. "But I don't normally spend this much time alone with someone I just met."

"Is there a man in your life?" Nick asked before he even realized he was asking it. Then he quickly said, "I'm sorry. That was way too nosy of me. It's just the way the conversation was going – "

"No," Nancy said. "No, it isn't too nosy and no, there isn't a man in my life, other than my father. He needs a lot of care when he's home. I've actually been enjoying a bit of a respite while he's in the hospital, but I'm hoping he'll be home soon."

"A lovely woman like you should have more of a life than that."

"I will have, someday. I'm a patient person."

Nick chuckled. "That's one of my failings. I have all the patience of a mustang with a saddle on its back for the first time."

"Well, patience is an art. You have to learn how to do it."

"Oh? How did you learn?"

"Taking care of my father. Taking care of this place. Being alone a lot. None of that time is wasted to me. I've made good use of it."

Nick shook his head. "You are one of the most remarkable women I've ever met."

Marks suddenly started talking in his sleep, mumbling words and sentences that did not even seem to go together.

Nick raised an eyebrow at Nancy. "Amazing, isn't it? Here you are, quiet and peaceful, and there's your complete opposite, talking his head off even when he's asleep."

Nancy smiled and got up. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to try to make you comfortable on the floor in front of the fire, since your prisoner there has taken up the sofa. Let me get you some blankets and a pillow."

She went into one of the bedrooms and soon came out with a pillow, blankets and a towel.

"You can wash up in the kitchen sink when you're ready," Nancy said and put the linens in his arms. "Good night."

"Good night, and thanks again for putting us up," Nick said as Nancy went back into the bedroom.

She smiled before she went through the door and closed it.

Nick heaved a sigh and looked at Marks on the sofa. He tossed the bedding on the floor in front of the fire and said quietly to his sleeping prisoner, "Start talking again and wake me up just once, and you'll be on the floor and me on the sofa."

XXXXXXX

Morning came with the sun shining brightly through the front window. Nick had slept soundly, so if Marks started talking during the night, he didn't hear it. Nick put his boots on and made his way out the back door to the outhouse. The snow was not deep, not even one foot. When he came back in, he washed his face at the kitchen sink, and by then, Marks was stirring.

"Gotta go," was the first thing he said.

Marks had slept with even his boots on, so he got up fast and headed for the door. Nick went out with him, just to be sure he didn't take off. Marks was oddly silent even after they came back in and Nick tossed him the towel, telling him to wash up.

Nancy came in from the bedroom as Marks finished at the sink, and she said, "It will take me a while to get some eggs from the hen house, but I can make breakfast for you if you like."

"I think we'd better get going," Nick said. "There's not much more snow out there, and I think we can make Placerville tonight if we leave now."

"I hope you slept all right," Nancy said.

"I slept like a baby, like a baby in his cradle," Marks took off and kept right on babbling about how well he slept.

"Stop," Nick said and held his hand up, and Marks stopped. "We should saddle up and go. Thank you again for being such a wonderful hostess."

"My pleasure," Nancy said. "If it turns out you have to turn back, I'll be here til the day after tomorrow."

Nick put his winter coat on, saying, "I'll remember that. Good-bye."

Then he ushered Marks out the door and to the barn. Marks's mouth immediately took off.

"That was one fine place to spend the night, Deputy. Boy, that supper was just as fine as I've ever had, and even that sofa was more comfortable than any bed I can remember. Makes me wish we did have to turn back before we got to Placerville. And I want to ask you something – do you think your brother the lawyer might take my case? I didn't rob that store and I didn't shoot that storekeeper, and I can prove I wasn't in Placerville…."

Marks kept on talking the whole time they saddled up and even as they started out of the barn, but Nick was not paying any attention to him. Until he took his last look at Nancy Tyler's house, he didn't hear a word Marks said, thinking instead about the sweet, quiet evening he'd spent with that lovely woman. Lovely. That was the word that fit her. Nick realized that the only word he ever used for women he was attracted to before was "beautiful," but Nancy was lovely. He liked that word a lot better.

But then they were on the road again, and Marks was still talking. "I suspect the snow won't be deep enough to make us turn back. That's too bad, don't you think? It would be worth hauling all the way back to Stockton just for some more of that apple pie. Wonder if they got good apple pie at the café in Placerville? I guess that's where my food will come from. They got a little place right across from the jail ="

Nick stopped and turned around. "Marks, shut up and shut up now, or I swear, I will gag you and keep you gagged all the way to Placerville."

Marks shut up, but within twenty minutes or so, he was at it again. Nick just sighed and let the space between him and the man lengthen again as they moved on up the road to Placerville – and he let his mind drift back to the night before that was worth every word Marks was saying.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The day grew long and exhausting, but Nick pushed on toward Placerville. The snow was deep and slowed them down a bit, but it did not stop them. The sky was clear, and after it grew dark there was enough moon that the snow reflected it and made traveling far easier than it would have been without the snow.

Marks jabbered on so much that Nick couldn't even hear it anymore. Maybe the snow absorbed a lot of the sound, he didn't know, but it all became just a background drone, like a medium-sized wind through the trees. It was only when they stopped to rest or eat and Marks kept on blabbering that Nick had to threaten him with the gag.

"Don't know why my conversation bothers you so much, Deputy. It kinda passes the time for me. I mean, come on, this is about as boring a way to spend a day as it can get. The only excitement is when I get snow in my boots, and I'm getting kind of tired of that. My socks are wet and my feet are cold, but I guess it's okay, it keeps me awake. Otherwise, I'd be falling asleep in the saddle…."

The lights of Placerville finally came into sight, and the snow in the road became less of a problem as traffic packed it down. Marks's horse slipped a bit on ice as they entered the main street, but it was nothing major. Nick spotted the saloon by all the activity there, and then he saw the sheriff's office and town jail across the street. There was a light there, too. Nick nearly burst into tears with joy.

Nick hitched the horses to the hitching rail by the jail and got Marks down out of the saddle. "Wonder if they're gonna feed us tonight? I really could go for some hot food, though it probably won't be as good as the rabbit stew Miss Nancy gave us last night. Boy, that stew and that apple pie was almost worth the trip up here, wasn't it, Dep?"

"Shut up," Nick said for at least the hundredth time, took Marks by the arm and shoved him into the sheriff's office. Now, he was done with him.

The sheriff, seated at his desk and reading papers, looked up as if he was surprised to see them. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Nick said, "I'm Nick Barkley from Stockton. This is Jed Marks, prisoner I was told to bring to you, and you're welcome to him."

"Ohhhhhhhh." The sheriff sat up a bit straighter, but it was the prolonged "oh" that made Nick suddenly very nervous. "I guess the sheriff down there didn't get my wire."

Nick's heart fell into his cold, wet boots. "What wire?"

The sheriff got up with a sigh. "Well, you can get him out of those handcuffs. Turns out Mr. Marks here isn't the guy we were after anyway."

Now Nick's heart flew up into his head, and his whole being pounded with anger. "Are you telling me," he asked very slowly, "that I just brought this blabbermouth two days through the snow and put up with his endless talking about nothing at all, and it was all a mistake?"

"Wah-hoo!" Marks yelled. "Get me out of these things, Dep, and I'll get right out of your hair! There's a saloon still open, and I bet you'll be happy to give me a couple dollars just to leave you alone!"

Marks kept on talking as Nick opened his coat, took the key for the cuffs out of his vest pocket and unlocked the cuffs. Nick even gave him a couple of dollars from his shirt pocket. As soon as Marks was free, Nick looked at the sheriff, who said to Marks, "You're free to go."

"Wah-hoo!" Marks yelled again and was out the door.

Nick sighed as weary a sigh as he had ever breathed in his life. He fell into a chair, considered taking his heavy coat off but didn't. He just looked at the sheriff. "Do you know what I've been through?"

"Yeah, I do," the sheriff said. "When Marks was up here last, I had him in for drunk and disorderly overnight. It was supposed to be 48 hours, but I couldn't take any more of his mouth, so I cut him loose after one night. I'm sorry, Mr. Barkley. You made that whole miserable trip for nothing."

Nick closed his eyes and wanted to fall asleep right there, but he remembered Nancy Tyler, pictured her lovely smile and her wonderful rabbit stew and the sweet conversation. Much to the sheriff's surprise, he smiled. "It wasn't all miserable – though if I ever have to listen to Jed Marks again in my life, I just might shoot him – or myself. Where can I get a good hot meal?"

"Only place open is the saloon," the sheriff said.

Nick groaned. "That's where Marks went. Hotel still open?"

"Probably, but they probably won't have any food."

Nick sighed again. "Maybe the saloon will be so loud I won't hear Marks." He got up. "Thanks, sheriff. I'll be on my way home in the morning."

"Sorry again," the sheriff said.

Nick just nodded and went out the door.

Nick stabled his horse at the livery, then carried his saddlebags to the hotel and got a room for the night. He took his things upstairs, considered just flopping on the bed and waiting until morning to eat, but decided he was too hungry. He would just risk going to the saloon and having to hear Marks blabbering away again so he could get something on his empty stomach for the night.

The saloon was full of men and full of noise, and if Marks was in here, Nick didn't see or hear him. He stayed at the bar, had a beer and some hot beef stew, and wished it was rabbit at Nancy's house. He wondered over and over again whether he should stop by her place on the way back to Stockton. She said she'd be leaving soon but maybe she'd still be there. They'd be alone this time – no Marks to play chaperone. That wouldn't be very proper.

He went back to the hotel, visited the bathroom, then went to his room and shut the world out. He took his wet boots and clothes off and fell under the blankets. Falling asleep, he had one thought over and over again. "Lovely," versus "beautiful." They were two different things. Was that the secret Jarrod knew about women, why they fell for him even when he didn't fall for them, because he found the ones who were "lovely" – or more likely they found him? Nick always went for the ones who were "beautiful," in a physical way. "Lovely" was something deeper. Maybe women actually preferred a man who thought they were "lovely," rather than "beautiful."

Nick fell asleep with the two words floating around in his mind.

XXXXXXX

The weather was clear and warm for Nick's trip home. The snow even began to melt, making mud which was uncomfortable for his horse and miserable to step in when he took breaks, but at least Marks was not here. At least the trip was quiet.

It was past nightfall when he came close to Nancy Tyler's place, and he was plagued with uncertainty as he did. What if she was home? What would he do if he saw that light off the side of the road? Oh, he would have loved to go in and see her again, even if all they did was talk, but alone? It just wasn't proper, especially not for a woman as lovely as she was.

As it turned out, by the moonlight on the snow, Nick saw the tracks of a wagon coming from her place and turning south on the road. But no light at the house, and the tracks went one direction. Nancy had left home and hadn't returned. Probably went to Sacramento to see her father and stayed over there, Nick realized. Even if he wasn't planning to stop there, his heart sank. He moved on, and not very much farther down the road, he saw the wagon tracks go off to the north. Yes, she'd gone to Sacramento.

Sacramento was much too far for him to go, and it was completely out of his way. And how would he have found her there anyway?

He traveled on another mile or two before he found a good spot to camp for the night. Rock there was flat and would make a good bed, but hard. At least not muddy, Nick thought and set up camp.

The moonlight was as romantic as he had ever seen, and here he was with no one to share it with. He ate, took care of his personal needs, and curled up against the underside of his saddle with his blanket over him. He watched the moon for a long time – it was so bright, he couldn't see any stars. He fell asleep to blessed peace and quiet, but he was lonely.

XXXXX

Nick made it back to Stockton late the next day. Tired and hungry – but in the mood for a little vengeance – he went straight to the sheriff's office. Fred Madden was there, sweeping up the place. Nick came inside the front door, closed it behind him, and just stood there.

"Ohhhhh," the sheriff of Stockton said, in the same tone of voice that the sheriff of Placerville used when saying the same word.

"Yeah, oh," Nick said.

"Nick, I'm really sorry. I didn't get the wire from the sheriff in Placerville until you were half a day up the road."

"That's only half of what I'm mad about," Nick said. "You knew when you saddled me with Jed Marks that he was just gonna talk my ear off for the whole eighty miles, didn't you?"

"Yeah, of course I knew, he talked my ear off for two days before you left."

"We are more than even for January 1, Fred, so I don't ever want to hear you mention that again, and if you tell anybody in my family about it, and I mean anybody, I will make sure I work day and night to get you unelected the next election."

"You might be doing me a favor."

"Then I'll work twice as hard to get you elected!"

Sheriff Madden put the broom up against the wall beside a filing cabinet. "Can I buy you dinner?"

"You bet you can. Cattlemen's, and I want a steak as thick as my fist."

The sheriff strapped on his gunbelt. "And a big fat load of fried potatoes?"

Nick opened the front door again. "And the biggest slice of apple pie they have." He gestured the sheriff to go out ahead of him.


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue

Nick spent the night at the Cattlemen's Hotel – courtesy of Sheriff Madden. Nick fully intended to milk everything he could out of the sheriff's guilt for sending him off with Jed Marks. That included the biggest breakfast he could hold and the livery charges for stabling his horse overnight.

By then, Nick figured he'd punished the sheriff enough, and after a friendly good-bye, he headed home to the ranch.

If it had snowed at all at the ranch, it was gone now. The ground was a little muddy, but nothing like it was at higher elevations. It felt good to ride free of Mother Nature's interference, and free of that loudmouth Jed Marks. The sun was out for one more day and it even began to feel so comfortably warm that Nick took his winter coat off.

He arrived home late in the morning and for once, did not feel like yelling for anybody when he went in the front door. He left his saddlebags on the floor by the front door, hung his coat, hat and gunbelt on the rack that hung in the hall heading toward the kitchen, and then that was where he went. He found Silas there, but no one else.

"Welcome back, Mr. Nick," Silas said. "How was your trip?"

"Too awful to talk about, Silas," Nick said. "Where is everybody?"

"Mrs. Barkley and Miss Audra have gone to Miss Brady's to talk about the reception after Miss Audra and Mr. Wheeler get married. Mr. Heath is out on the north range. Would you like me to fix you up some lunch?"

"No, no," Nick said. "I had a nice big breakfast, courtesy of the Stockton sheriff. I'll just unpack and change into some fresh clothes and go on out to the north range. I can get something at the chuck wagon."

"Then you'll be home for dinner?"

"I surely will."

Nick went back to the foyer and picked up his saddlebags, then headed upstairs. He really wanted to get into some fresh clothes, but first he thought he'd better unpack the saddlebags. He had dirty socks he wanted to get out of there, and there was a fresh shirt that he hadn't used but would work for today.

He unpacked the side with the dirty laundry, and then took out the fresh shirt and shook it to get the wrinkles out.

A piece of paper fell onto the floor when he shook out the shirt. Nick didn't remember any paper being in there. He picked it up.

It was just a folded piece of stationary. It smelled lovely. What the - ?

He opened it. It said, "Thank you. Nancy."

Nick grinned from ear to ear. Somehow, he was going to have to get up Placerville way again someday soon.

The End


End file.
